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I think it's regional but almost everyone here has a finished basement. We use ours for our surround sound and big screen TV - it's the only tv in our house. Husband also has his home office down there and once baby comes, I will use that area for my exercise (since I previously was using baby's room for that purpose). It's up to you... there is always the option to finish it later, too!

@Weagle: This. Unfinished basements are kind of creepy to me and I wouldn't go down there.

If there was no space anywhere else though, I think my DH would finish it anyway to give himself a big game room and to give LO a play room down there.

To me, a finished basement still feels like a basement.

Finished - less dusty and scary, and who cant use more nice storage or play space.

Absolutely finished. If it’s an option, I don’t see why anyone wouldn’t want the added living space. Most houses around here are pretty choppy on the main floors but have big open spaces in the basement. There are so many possibilities when you have a huge amount of space to work with.

@chopsuey119: We just built a house, and we had our basement left unfinished. The main reason being that the builders wanted a RIDIC amount of money to finish it! We could finish it after the fact using a private contractor/company and save a ton. So, that's what we plan to do in a few years

We are currently in an apartment, but if we ever moved to a house with a basement, I would rather have it finished. Growing up we had a finished basement, and as kids it was a great place to use as a playroom, and as we got older we put a TV down there and it was a good place for teens to hang out. My mom also had a sewing room, and my dad had a small workshop. There was also a designated storage area.

I would finish maybe half. Nice to have an extra spot in the basement (especially when the kiddo's get older) to go play and be loud, but I know DH would love some indoor storage for a tool room/work room.

@chopsuey119: So much fun to pick everything! Waiting for it to be done is the hardest part. Ours took 9 months to build, which felt like an eternity!

@chopsuey119: I feel like we let them drag their feet a little bit. They could have rushed it more if we specified in the beginning (or so they told us later, haha). You'll probably be in by September if you mention that as a deadline!

Oh totally finished. I would LOVE to have somewhere I could 'throw' the kids when they are a little older to play and run around and not screw up furniture or anything valuable and not be underfoot. My parents used to LOVE throwing all 3 of us in our basement and we'd entertain ourselves for hours sometimes literally just running in circles.

Definitely finished! Our home is about the same sq footage wise and it's just the two of us so technically we don't need the basement but having it finished makes it much more inviting. The previous owner divided it up into mechanical space (where DH painted the floors with marine paint so you can walk barefoot and not feel icky) and a living area. We plan to turn some of that space into a gym someday!

The resale value will be much higher with a finished basement.

@JoJoGirl: Lol this visual made me laugh